Container opener



M. E. OPPEGARD CONTAINER OPENER Dec. 20, 1960 Fiwarch 4, 1958 INVENTOR.

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MEL WM 5': OPPEGAED United State P t,Q If

2,964,843 CONTAINER OPENER Melvin E. Oppegard, Canoga Park, Calif. (2042 Stoner Ave., Los Angeles 25, Calif.)

Filed Mar. 4, 1958, Ser. No. 719,036 3 Claims. (Cl. 30-16) The present invention relates generally to apparatus for opening containers and particularly describes a manu- 'ally operated opener especially well suited for opening metallic cans.

: Conventional devices for opening cans containing liquid beverages or the like include a cutting member having a point directed downwardly and a pair of cutting edges divergent rearwardly from the point. There is also provided in this type of opener a hook arrangement by which to position the cutting portion of the opener relative inwardly of the rim of a can, the hook portion serving to Completion of the opening 1' 1 tents becomes dammed behind the" base of the triangular portion. This is particularly objectionable when the contents of the can are of a viscous nature, such as syrup or thelike. a r 'The device of the present invention overcomes the above disadvantage. tively movable members connected together desirably by a moving pivotal connection; Each of the members includes a handle portion extending over: a substantial distance in order to permit easy grasping of the device and manipulation thereof by the'user. includes at its other end a jaw head for retaining the de- -vice in proper position relative to a can to be opened and the other member has at its other end a cutter head. The jaw head includes a pair of laterally spaced elements con- One of the members I 5' Y can or the like including a side wall 12 and a cover portion or top 14, the side wall and top meeting along an out- There isprovided-a-pair of-rela- -figured'to provide upwardly directed shoulders, the

shoulders being intended to be received beneath the outwardly projecting rim of a can to be opened. The cutter head includes a generally downwardly directed point and a pair of cutting edges extending generally upwardly and outwardly from the point. When the device is in fully opened position with the jaw hooked beneath the rim of a can to be opened, the piercing point of the cutter is immediately above the rim of the can and spaced centrally of the hooked portions of the jaw. From this position, manual actuation of the opener forces. the piercing ,important in..the operation of thedevic'e of the present invention that the piercing point makes its initial penetration of the cover very close to the junction of the cover and ofthe outside wall of the container s o thata virtually llcoinpletely unobstructed path is provided for tlie liquid content to follow when the container contents -arede- 2,984,843 en Ds'-..20 -9 9 canted. Spring means are provided for resiliently biasing the present device into open position with the cutter head withdrawn upwardly of the hooks of the jaw head. A preferred form of the resilient member includes an elongated piece of relatively stifi material such as'spring wire or the like, one end of the wire being fastened to the outer portion of the handle of the jaw member and the other end being permitted abutting contact with the handle of the cutter member near the fulcrum of the device.

Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to disclose a novel construction of opener for containers made of rigid sheet material. Other objects and purposes are to provide such a device including a pair of relatively movable members connected together by a moving pivotal connection; to disclose a structure of the character described having a cutting member provided with a piercing point adapted to pierce an opening in the top member of a container immediately inwardly of the periphery of the container top; to disclose an opener for cylindrical cans whereby the container or can, once opened, can be emptied of its contents completely with ease. Additional objects and purposes of the present invention will become clear from a study ofthe following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which: i I

.Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of an opener in accordance with the present invention in opened position, together with a fragmentarily shown portion of a can or similar container in position to be opened.

' Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the device of Fig. 1 except showing parts in position after the final opening move- 'ment has been accomplished.

. Fig. 3.is a view taken along the line 1n 1n of Fig. 1'. Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV--IV Fig. 5 is a view looking downwardly on aportion of lthedevice as indicated by the arrows V--Vof Fig. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawing there is indicated generally at 10 in Fig. l, a sectionalized view of the upper right portion of a container such as a metal wardly projecting lip or rim 16, in accordance with well known conventional construction.

The device of the present invention is indicated generally at 18 and includes two pivotally connected elements, a retaining or support member indicated generally at 20 and a cutting member indicated generally at 40. The retaining member 20 includes an elongated handle portion 21 desirab1y formed in a generally U-shaped section having an upper web or yoke part 22 and downwardly depending side walls 23 and 24 (see Figs. 2 and 4). The retainer 20 is provided at its forward end (leftwardly as seen in Fig. l) with means for retaining the assembly in correct position relative to the outwardly projecting rim ,or lip of a container to be opened. In the present illustration, such means includesa jaw head having a pair of laterally spaced jaws 25 and 26, being forward portions ofthe side walls 23 and 24 respectively. The upper parts of the jaws 25 and 26 are formed to provide upwardly directed shoulders 27 and 28 adapted to abut the lower surface of therim 16 of the container 10.

Outwardly of the jaw portions 25 and 26 there may be also provided hooked configurations 29 and 30 by which to enable the present device to be used as a conventional bottle opener. Moreoven'the lower surfaces 31 and 32 of the outer end'portions'of thearm 21 maybe serrated as indicated, the general outline of theserr'ated portion of thearm being concaveddownwardly. 5

The cutter member 40 includes an arm indicated generally at 41 and projecting downwardly andrigh'twardly as seen in'Fig. 1. Like the arm 21, arm 41 is desirably made U-shaped in section having a central yoke 42 and side walls 43 and 44 projecting upwardly therefrom, arm 41 being narrower in width than arm 21 whereby to be receivable between Walls 23 and 24, as clearly appears in Fig. 4. The inner end of the cutter member 40 includes a cutter head indicated generally at 46'having a downwardly directed piercing point 47 and wings 49 and 50 extending upwardly and laterally upwardly from the point, the wings terminating in cars 51 and 52. The wings 49 and 50 present forwardly and downwardly directed cutting edges 53 and 54 respectively on either side of the piercing point 47, the cutting edges being desirably symmetrically disposed relative to the piercing point. By reference to Fig. 5, it will be observed that the wing portions 49 and 50 are by preference arranged in substantially semicircular configuration, the cars 51 and 52 being generally tangent to the circular portions thus formed. 'Desirably the entire cutter head is formed integrally of suitable metal such as steel which will retain a cutting edge, and the cutter head itself may be integral with the arm 41 of the cutter member 40. In the outer portion of the arm 41, the upper edges 55 and 56 of the side walls 43 and 44, respectively, may be generally concaved upwardly and provided with serrations as shown whereby to cooperate with the similar serrations 31 and 32 of the arm 21 for use in opening screw-top containers and the like.

Means are provided for pivotally connecting together the two members 20 and 40 making up the device 18. By preference, this pivotal connection includes a slidable relationship between the two members. In the present illustrative embodiment of the invention the pivotal connection includes a pivot pin 60 extending across the space between the side walls 23 and 24 of the arm 21 and retained in position by suitable means such as by conventional enlarged heads 61 and 62. The pivot pin 60 is slidably received in a pair of slots '63 and 64 formed in the side walls 43 and 44 respectively of the arm 41. These slots are desirably concaved downwardly and are laterally aligned with one another. Means are also provided for resilient biasing of the component parts of the opener 18 into the open position seen in Fig. 1. In the present illustration such means include a resilient member 66 having its one end portion 67 connected to the arm 21 near the outer end thereof, preferably by causing the outer end portion 67 of the resilient member to be received in a pair of transverse openings 68 and 70 .formed in the upper web or yoke portion 22 of the arm. The other end 72 of the elongated member 66 is desirably downturned as indicated in Fig. 2 and is in sliding abutting contact with the outermost end of an upturned .flap portion 74 which is lanced or otherwise formed as by a punching operation from the web or yoke 42 of the arm 41. Since the resilient member 66 is biased so that its outer end portion 72 is urged downwardly as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, it will be seen that such downward bias directed against the upturned flap 74 of the lower arm 41 serves to urge the latter arm downwardly from the position seen in Fig. 2 into the position seen in Fig. 1. Limiting means are provided to govern the clockwise travel of the arm 41, and in the present illustration include shoulders 81 and 82 in the upper portion of the cutter head 46, the shoulders being adapted to abut against the innermost end 85 of the web or yoke 22 of the upper arm 21 when .the parts are in opened position as seenin Fig. 1.

Operation of the present device in forming an opening in the cover portion of a metallic can or the like will be readily understood bv a comparison of the position of the be noted that manual force exerted upon the handles 21 and 41 by the hand of the user develops a force which drives the cutter head 46 downwardly as seen in Fig. 1. It is important to note that such downward movement of the cutter head permits the cutter head to move inwardly or leftwardly as seen in 'Fig. 1, to some extent, but such leftward movement is only to the extent made necessary by the sliding contact of the rear of the cutter head 46 against the'inner surface of the'rim 16 of thecan 10. By reasonofthe eabutting'contact of-the free end'72 of the resilient member 66 against the flap 74, the entire cutter member 40 is biased rightwardly as seen in Figs. 1 and 2 during the cutting operation, thus insuring that the piercing point 47 is driven into the top 14 of the can pin immediately adjacent the rim 16. Thus when the present device is disengaged from the can 10 by allowing the arms 21 and 41 to move to open position of Fig. l, the metal flap 15 is completely out of the way of the material in-the can as such material is poured out. It will be seen that the opening thus formed permits pouring of granulated solids as well as liquids.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that certain modifications and changes from the specific form of the invention herein shown and described as preferred are possible and within the contemplation of the invention. All such modifications and changes not departing from the spirit of the invention are intended to be -embraced within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A container opener comprising: a jaw memberhaving a pair of laterally spaced upwardly directed jaws adapted to seat beneath an outwardly projecting container rim, and an elongated upper actuating arm 'projecting rearwardly from the jaws; a cutter member including a cutter head provided with a downwardly directed cutting blade having a piercing point and a pair of cutting edges extending upwardly, forwardly and laterally from the point, an elongated lower actuating arm projecting rearwardly and downwardly from the cutter head; means connecting the jaw member and cutter member for relative arcuate movement, including a pivotal connection having a moving pivotal axis comprising slot means in said cutter member and a transverse pivot pin slidably received in the slot means and carried by the jaw member whereby said piercing point can be manually forced downwardly in a vertical plane between said jaws; and resilient means carried by one of said members for biasing the cutter member rearwardly relative to the jaw member.

2. A container opener comprising: a first elongated member provided at one end with container supporting means and including an actuating handle extending rear wardly therefrom; a second member having a cutter head provided with a downwardly directed piercing point and an actuating handle extending rearwardly therefrom; and means including slot means formed in one of said members and a transverse pin carried by theot-hgr member and slidably received in the slot means for connecting said members for relative pivotal movement about a movable pivotal axis.

3. The invention as stated in claim 2 including resilient means for biasing the second member rearwardly relative to the first member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,641,054 Schanning Aug. 30, 1927 1. 5. 62 Kronquest Dec. 25, 1934 2,751,678 Sauer June 26, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 492,621 Italy Mar. 29, 1954 571,757 Great Britain Sept. 7,1945 

